-*w 




History of tke 
Gable Family 





Compiled by Frank Allaben for Percival K. Gable, 
Proprietor or tne Rambo House, Norriatown, Penna. 






riistory of 
the Gable Family 




Percival K. Gable. Proprietor of the Rambo House, Norristown. Pa. 

PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN IN \ G06 



NRICH ( 

ermany, w 

1705. ( 

) 



SB 



"^D >1J0A a^N 's:>B|d uo;;t 

'310VO HSSHf n t 
spbj aq; P ub „ f X|iuny qio^J 



•EJ 'UA\0)SUJO(sJ }B §UIA!| pUB '6881 - B , 



E GABL 

ckville ; 
I built tr 
From , 
rmers' H 

f County 

rp^iHpnt 



•anssi -onssi 

SBq puB sBq put; 

P9UJBIU paiJJBUI 



PI!M 
MIA? 

"SJ^liinnrm \.i . 



the 
born 



JOHAN JACOB GABEL, of Rabach in Zweibreucken -. » , A MARGARFT hU wife rnu 

Pfalz, Germany, where his son, JOHN PHILIP GABEL «,,« ^ MjtfA MAKUARll, His wife (Old 
* W (Church Book, Lutheran Congregation of Sid I ^t^Je^ LUth6ran ChUrCh 



Goshenhoppen Church, page 39.) 



Book, page 39) 



HENRICH CULMAN of Greselbach, In Hernbusch, the = MARIA BARBARA, his wife, (Old 
Pfalz, Germany, where his daughter, ELIZABETH Catharine, was | Goshenhoppen Lutheran Church 

born in 1705. (Old Goshenhoppen Lutheran Church Book, | Book, page 39). 

page 39-) 



J 




printed at Sumneytown, Pa., 1846, and posted in Church Book 

mander, accompanied by Johan Friederich Gabel 

Names of Immigrants in Pennsylvania," pages 

on Gemeinden-Contrakt, 1739 and 1744 respectively. 



in Church Book). jfcame over on the ship Samuel, from Rotterdam, HUGH PERCY, Com- 
ABEL, probably his butler, landing at Philadelphia August 27, 1739, (Rupp's " Thirty Thousand 
132 and 133). He s «ed his name " JOHAN PHILIP GABEL " on ship list, and " PHILIP GABEL " 



page 39). 



I 



JOHAN FRIDRICH, 
born Feb. 17, 1736 



JOHAN PETER, 
born Jan. 2, 1737. 



Oct 



JOHAN PHIUP GABEL, born in Upper Salford Township, Montgomery County, Pa., = MARGARET, his 

• 27, 1739, exaclv tw0 n 101 "' 1 " 5 from the da y tnat nis parents landed at Philadelphia; born Nov. 3, 1724, 



\JLl. 27, 1739, exaclv tvV " 1V "" ° """• "«<- "»/ "«" "u |Jaicni.a lauucu ai i 1.1."^.^ , 

married about June, 1766- v as an Elder in the Lutheran Congregation of the Old Goshenhoppen 
Church ; and died Jan. 8, 1808 (Od Goshenhoppen Church Book, page 39 and tombstone in Old Goshen- 
hoppen Church-yard). He was a' larae lani-ow' ner in u PP er Salford Township, a successful merchant, and a noted 
tavern-keeper at the old Gable House on the^Sprinhouse and Sumneytown Turnpike, about two miles North of Salfordville, 
a large stone house still standing in good condition (1903) \ n i occupied. His ledger, containing accounts between the years 1767 
and 1772, and occupying 239 pages, a remarkably beautiful piece '0 penmanship and bookkeeping, is now in the possession of his great- 
grandson, PERCIVAL K. GABLE, of Norristown, Pa. who also has tie hotel license granted to his great-grandfather Sept. 25,1787. His farm 
contained at least 340 acres (Deeds in possession of his great-grantson PERCIVAL K. Gable, or on record at Norristown, Pa). Letters of 
administration on his estate were granted to his son Philip Gable JR.. Au 8- *4' l8o 9> (Records in custody of Register of Deeds at Nor- 



wife, 
and 
died Sept. 5, i8o5,(Tomb- 
stone in Old Goshenhop- 
pen Church-yard). 



Catharine Eliza- 
beth, born, March 
15. I74I- 



Margaret, 
born June 6, 
1743- 



Maria Catharine, 
born Nov. 3, 1744. 



ristown, Pa.) Name written " Gabel " and "Gable." 



PHILIP GABLE, the only known child and heir of Philip Gas 
pen Lutheran Church Book, page 251, and tombstone in Old Gosha • 
for many years an Elder and the Treasurer of the Lutheran Congn \ 
stone). He was a still larger land-owner than his father, and still it 
and 355 acres in Upper Salford Township, he owned at the time of 
6 acres in Whitemarsh Township, a tavern and 20 acres in Gwynec 
444 acres, his estate being appraised at nearly $50,000 (Orphans' C 
tion Papers in Custody of Register of Wills.) His name appears freqin 



d MARGARET, his wife, was born July 29, 1768 (Old Goshenhop- 

.nen Cemetery); married Catharina Schneider, Dec. 3, 1 797 ; was 

of Old Goshenhoppen Church and died Oct. 4, i835- ( See tomb " 

noted merchant and hotel-keeper. Besides his residence and tavern 

death 5Q acres in Skippack and Perkiomen Township, a tavern and 

nship and 4 acres of woodland in Frederick Township, a total of 

Docket Norristown, Book No. 7, pages 12 and 13, and Administra- 

, tlv in the old records as Executor, Administrator, Appraiser, Etc. 



CATHARINE born April 5 1776, died Feb. 1, 1822, daughter of HENRICH SCHNEIDER 
fn^s A w^,^H R , r s n T.N A A Pr 5 .d Goshenhoppen Lutherar .Church ^^^ 
stone in Old Goshenhoppen Cemetery), and B™ddaughte ' * CONRAD SCHNE,d E r and 
CATHARINA DETZ who were born n^™*?'^ £ a \ l $> $ *co„d .n ^700 
were married in Germany in 1724, and c |™ e ™ DE r *"s t he son of CONRAD and CATH- 
1r.Se SCHfei? L'LtHAR.NE D^lt fh?d?ughter of SEBAST.AN and EVA, DETZ (Old 
Goshenho^n Chur^^ 39-4C and Rupp% "Thirty Thousand Names," pages 7S -6. 



Charles, bom 
April 9, 1799, 
died Nov. 27, 
1879, leaving 
ssue. 



Sarah, born 
Feb. 13, 1800, 
married John 
Groff and had 



ESTHER, born 
May 18, 1803, 
married John 
Smith. 



Philip, born 
Apr. 21,1805, 
died unmar- 
ried. 



MARGARET, born 
Nov. 17, 1807, 
married Michael 
Reiff. 



ELIZABETH, 

July 30, 18 
married Ab 
Groff. 



born 
10, 
raham 



ANNA CATHARINE, 
born May 6, 1812, 
married Zachariah 
Leidy. 



IESSE GABLE, born Dec. 29, 1816; kept the upper hotel at 
SSSckvSte" then another lower down until about 1850, and 
in 18? built the lower hotel in the same place now the Valley 
House From 1868 until his death, Sept. 16, .874, he conducted 
the Farmers' Hotel, Norristown, Pa. He was Treasurer of Mont- 
gomery County from 185. to 1853, and at the time of his death 
was President of the Board of Prison Inspectors. 



MARY, daughter of 
Jacob Kemerer and 

SUSAN MCNOLDY, of 
Red Hill, Montgomery 
County, Pa. 



MARIA ANNA, 
born March 18, 
1819, died un- 
married. 



Pa., and since May »3' J95, of tV^e RamBo . , dei ^ ^ Pennsylvania Dem0 . 

proprietor. He was President ot me ^uok LtVlNA, daughter of JOHN and 

married, Ella J. K.ULP April 23, 1885. 



SARAH VAN SlNTI 
and of a daughter 



'rnm\ r~i 



ROSE, 
married 
and has 
issue. 



MARY, 
married 
and has 
issue. 



grerf-gr^ KOLB, of Wolfsheim E 

lARAH V JN S^NTERN^an^ SCHUMACHER whQ settled , n (, ermant own, Pa., in 1685 



I 



ROSA LINDA GABLE, born March 5, 1887. and living at Norristown, pa- 
this year of our Lord, 1903. 

The first five generations in above pedigree are proved by 
to the last two generations, with some of the facts concerning 

August 23, 1903. 



MARY KULP GABLE born Sept. 19, .889, and living at Norristown, Pa., 

Anno Domini, 1903. ., . » an( j the facts as 

, m c PPRC1VAL K GABLE is extracted from Cassell's " Kolb ^"l^A, E 

3V docuienfry authority personally examined by the undersigned the ^ancestry f MRS. PB ^ ^ ^ ^ f ^ y register , h ld Bibl f JESS GA . 
ing Jess GABLE, were furnished by MR. and MRS. PERCIVAL K. L.ABL ^^ AL LABEN, East Fifty-eighth Street and Sutton Place, 



•£061 l iz jsnSny 

JSSHf §u;uj9duo3 sp^j gqj p 31U0S mjM 'suoi}Bjau3§ om; }se[ aq; oj 
uiroop A"q paAOjd 9JB oajgipad 9Aoqs ui suoi;tM9ua§ 9aij jsju. 9qx 

•£061 'pjoq .mo jo jeaA sjqj 
'umo;si4.io^ ;b Suiaji put? 788 ! '5 q^W UJ0C 1 4 31flV9 VQNI1 VSOH 



•S88 1 '^ l! jd V diny T vng 'pgujBiu 
3 guo puq gq 'Z88 1 '9 1 I! J dV P 9 !P °M M 'umojsujon jo 'iHO>I VNIA3T 
n 'W <3 J! M ^ SJI J S !M ^8 '£681 pub Z88 1 J° suoijugauoq 9}eis dijbjd 
B§9|9p pui3 jpunoQ uA\o;j9>|T3n^) 9q; p ^ugpisgjj sea\ 9j^[ 'jopudoid 
jo ''bj 'umo;sijjo{vJ '9snoj-| oqiuey gqj p '%2 l '^ ! ^ B W a^uis puB ''bj 
T3J '9jnpsuBq 'gsnoH p?.i}ii30 sqj *'f 'M '^40 ^Rub^v '9J£p9iddv 19PH 
jubjjjbh gq; p AjHianbgsqns st 'asnon A~9II^A 9l P Jopudojd sba\ 
)8i 'Ze -q9j "bj '9|jiA>pBdd!>is V* luoq '318V9 H3H3W3M 1VAWH3d 

I 



«£ 


The Gable Family 


<£ 



If the handing down of an occupation from father to son through 
generations makes one an expert in a certain, special line, then the pres- 
ent descendants of the Gable family should be Princes of Hotel-Keepers, 
for the family is one of the oldest in the county, and the name has figured 
conspicuously in connection with the hotel business for more than a cen- 
tury. It is also found in the early annals of the state in connection with 
the transfer of property and the recording of deeds, which indicates that 
they were land-owners, and belonged to the same class which constitutes 
the substantial citizenship of a community. 

It is definitely known that all of the Gables in America do not trace 
their ancestry to one source, for there is authentic record of the arrival 
of Peter and Maria Gabele in 1732; of Hendrick Gaabell a little later in 
the same year; of Conrad Gable in 1738: of John Philip and Johan Fred- 
erick Gabel, brothers, in 1739; Anthony Gabel in 1751; John Peter Gable 
in 1752; Philip Henry and Sebastian Gabel in 1753; Johannes Gabel in 
1754; and Conrad Gabel in 1773. Various differences in the orthography 
of the name appear, as there does in the place of location of these vari- 
ous emigrants to the American shores. 

It is to Johan Philip Gabel that the branch of the Gable family under 
consideration traces its ancestry. John Philip Gabel was a son of Johan 
Jacob and Maria Margaret Gabel, who were residents of Rabach, in 
Zweibreucken, the Pfalz, Germany. There the son was born in 1698, was 
there reared, was married in 1735. and in 1739 came to America. He 
sailed on the ship "Samuel" from Rotterdam, Captain Hugh Percy in 
command of the vessel, and eventually landed safely at Philadelphia. He 
was accompanied by his brother, Johan Frederick Gabel, and the original 
ship list gives the age of the former, on August 27, 1739, as forty-one 
years, and that of the younger brother as thirty-seven. John Philip Ga- 
bel settled in Upper Salford township. Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, 



where he soon became recognized as a prominent and influential citizen. 
He was chosen an officer in the Old Goshenhoppen Church, being in 1774 
one of the four who signed for the Lutheran congregation a joint con- 
tract with the Reformed congregation for the occupation of the church, 
built jointly in that year. He is mentioned among the taxpayers of Up- 
per Salford township, Montgomery county, in 1769, as the owner of one 
hundred acres of land, and his name appears among the taxpayers of 1774, 
where he is recorded as "Philip Gabel, Sr.", in order to distinguish him 
from his son of the same name. As his name does not appear in the tax 
list of 1779, it is evident that he must have died between 1774 and 1779, 
and was at least seventy-six years of age at the time of his death. His 
wife, Elizabeth Catherine Gabel, was a daughter of Heinrich and Maria 
Barbara Culman, and was born in Greselbach, Hernbasch, Germany, Au- 
gust 13, 1705. She became the wife of John Philip Gabel in 1735, and 
with two infant sons, Johan Frederick and Johan Peter, accompanied 
her husband to America. Their other children were Johan Philip; Cath- 
erine Elizabeth, born March 15, 1741 ; Margaret, born June 6, 1743; and 
Maria Catherine, born November 3, 1744. 

Johan Philip Gabel, the emigrant, who landed at Philadelphia, in 
1739. was older than his brother, Johan Friederick Gabel, who came over 
on the same ship, as on the original ship list the age of Philip Gabel (on 
Aug. 27, 1739), is given as 41, while that of Frederick is given as 37. 
(Penn Archives, Second Series, Vol. xvii, page 187.) The age of Philip 
Gabel, in 1739, as given on this ship list, agrees with his date of birth, 
1698, as given in the Old Goshenhoppen Church records. 

He lived to a good old age, appearing among the taxables of Upper 
Salford Township, Montgomery county, in 1769, as the owner of 100 
acres of land, (Penn Archives. Third Series, Vol. xiv., page 54), and 
among the taxables of the same township, in 1774, where he is dis- 
tinguished from his son as "Philip Gable, Sen'r." (Ibid., page 450.) 
His name does not appear in the tax list of 1779, which is good evidence 
that he died between 1774 and 1779. at the age of at least 76 years. 

Captain John Philip Gabel, born in Upper Salford Township, in 
1739, the son of the first John Philip Gabel, was married in the summer 
of 1766 to his wife, Margaret. This we learn from his tombstone, which 
states that he "lived 36 years in wedlock, and 5V2 years as a widower," or 



a total of 4i l /> years after his marriage, which reckoned back from the 
date of his death, January 18, 1808. fixes the date of his marriage about 
July, 1766. 

The tombstone of his wife states that she died September 5, 1802, 
aged 77 years, 9 months and 5 days, which fixes the date of her birth as 
Nov. 30, 1724. Captain Philip Gabel was her second husband. Her first 
husband, to whom she was married November 19, 1745, was Killian 
Gouckler, and her parents were "Nicol Bittel," and his wife, Maria 
Elizabeth. (Old Goshenhoppen Lutheran Church Records, page 41.) 
By her first husband she had eight children — John, George, John Michael, 
Mary Elizabeth, Catherine, John Nicholas, Anna Margaret, Christina 
Barbara and John Gouckle. In his will, made July 15, 1765, and proved 
Sept. 9, 1765, (Wills, Philadelphia, Book N. page 393), Kilian Gouckler 
mentions all these children, and his wife, Anna Margaret, whom he 
nominates as his executrix. 

By her second husband, Captain Philip Gabel, to whom she was 
married, about July, 1766, she had one child, John Philip Gabel, 3d, born 
July 29, 1768. (See his tombstone and also page 251, of the Old Gosh- 
enhoppen Lutheran Church Record.) 

Kilian Gouckler, at the time of his death, was the owner of 290 acres 
of land, on a part of which the Old Gable house, in Upper Salford, now 
stands. This tract is referred to as 280 acres in Gouckler's will. But 
after the Gouckler estate became the property of Captain Philip Gable, 
through his marriage to the widow of Kilian Gouckler and the purchase 
of the interest of the other heirs, it was re-surveyed and found to contain 
290 acres, as appears from a draught and memorandum of the re-survey 
for Philip Gable, now in the possession of Mr. P. K. Gable. 

Prior to 1757, 260 acres of the Gouckler-Gable estate belonged to 
"Jacob Nuss, late of Upper Salford township, in the County of Phila- 
delphia," as an old deed, in the possession of Mr. P. K. Gable, recites; 
and this property, "a Certain Messuage or Tenement Plantation and two 
hundred and sixty acres of land situate in Salford Township," under a 
court writ dated March 8, 1757, was seized by James Coultas, High 
Sheriff of Philadelphia County, to satisfy a debt of £442, 1 shilling and 6 
pence, owed by Jacob Nuss to Adam Clampffer, was bought at public 
sale by William Clampffer, of Philadelphia, and transferred to him Febru- 
ary 28, 1758, by the Deed-Poll of the Sheriff, now in the possession of 



Mr. P. K. Gable, from which the above history of the property is ex- 
tracted. 

On March 9, 1758, William Clampffer sold the property to Kilian 
Gouckler, with some additions, making 285 acres. (Original deed now 
in possession of Mr. P. K. Gable.) Upon re-survey, as stated above, it 
was found to contain 290 acres. 

Captain Philip Gable also owned land adjoining that which he sub- 
sequently obtained from the Gouckler estate, as we learn from a deed 
of two tracts owned by Michael Reyer, one of which is described as "by 
late Christopher Hanckabrand, now Philip Gabel, the younger's land." 
(Deeds, Norristown, Book 3, page 238.) On Nov. 9, 1778, he bought 
for £1,950 "a Certain Messuage or Tenement and Lot, Piece or Tract of 
Land, Situate on the South Side of Main Street, in Germantown," in the 
deed for which he is described as "Philip Gabel, of Upper Salford Town- 
ship, Inn-keeper." ^Deeds, Philadelphia, Book D, No. 1, page 297.) On 
April 7, 1794, this Germantown property was sold by "Philip Gabel, of 
Upper Salford Township, late of Philadelphia County, but since the 
Division now in the County of Montgomery and Commonwealth of 
Pennsylvania, Inn-keeper, and Margaret, his wife." (Deeds, Philadel- 
phia, Book D 43, page 229.) 

It is probable that the old Gable house was built by Kilian Gouck- 
ler, if not by the preceding owner, Jacob Nuss. and that Gouckler kept 
the place as a tavern, as Captain Philip Gable afterwards did. Thus, in 
his will, he describes himself as "Kylian Goukler, of Upper Salford, 
. . . In-holder." (Wills, Philadelphia, Book N, page 393.) The tra- 
dition, which has come down in the Gable family is that the house was 
built either two years before or two years after the first church building 
of Old Goshenhoppen, which would make the date of erection of the old 
Gable house either 1742 or 1746. 

Captain Philip Gable evidently acquired the Gouckler property in 
two or three transactions. In the tax list of 1769, for Upper Salford. 
Philadelphia county, he is assessed for 150 acres of land, 4 horses. 6 cat- 
tle and 1 servant. (Penn Archives, Third Series, Vol. xiv., page 54.) In 
the list for 1774 he is taxed for 260 acres, 4 horses, 4 cattle and 1 servant. 
(Ibid, page 405.) In the list of 1780 his estate for purposes of taxation 
is valued at £5,050. (Penn. Archives, Third Series, Vol. xv.. page 551.) 
In the assessment for 1781 he is referred to as "Philip Gable, tavern 



keep'r," (Ibid., Vol. xvi., page 41); while in that of 1783 he is taxed for 
285 acres of land, 4 horses, 4 cattle and 8 sheep. (Ibid., page 703.) 

He was Captain of a Company of the First Battalion of Philadel- 
phia County Militia, commanded by Colonel Daniel Heester, or Heister, 
during the Revolution, six lists of the men of "Capt. Philip Gable's 
Company," of this Battalion, who paid fines for the days they were off 
duty appearing on pages 581-2, 595-6, 625-6, 633-4, 683-4, and 693-4 of 
Volume V, of the Third Series of Pennsylvania Archives. 

All the Gabels in America are not descended from the brothers, John 
Philip and John Frederick Gabel, who came over in 1739. A "Peter 
Gabele" and "Maria Gabele" came over in 1732, a "Hendrick Gabell" a 
little later in the same year, a "Conrad Gable" in 1738, an "Anthony 
Gaubel" in 1751, "Johan Peter Gable" in 1752, "Philip Henry Gabel" and 
"Sebastian Gabel" in 1753, "Johannes Gabel" in 1754 and "Conrad Gabel" 
in 1773. (Penn. Archives, Second Series, Vol. xvii., pages 48, 62, 63, 162, 
329, 353, 384, 438 and 505) 

FRANK ALLABEN. 



*£ 


Family Bible Records 


^ 



The following is from the family Bible of Jesse Gable, now in pos- 
session of Mrs. Aaron H. Harley, of Philadelphia. The records are in 
the handwriting of Jesse Gable, until his death, and the few added since 
that date are said to be in the handwriting of the daughter, Caroline 
Gable, now deceased: 

Jesse Gable, son of Philip Gable and Catharine, his wife, was born 
December 29, 1815 ; was married to Mary Kemmerer, June 18, 1843, and 
died Sept. 16, 1874. 

Mary Kemmerer, (his wife), the daughter of Jacob Kemmerer, and 
Susan, his wife, was born Jan. 27, 1821, and died Sept. 27, 1896. 

They had the following children: 

1. John Philip Gable, son of Jesse and Mary Gable, born Jan. 17. 
1844, and died Oct. 9. 1857. 

2. Oliver Gable, born March 3, 1845, and died May 22, 1852. 

3. Caroline Gable, born Oct. 27, 1846, and died Oct. 1st, 1896. 

4. Catharine Ann Gable, born May 17, 1849, and died March 24, 
1852. 

5. Jesse Gable, born July 14, 1851, and died Feb. 28, 1853. 

6. Mary Gable, born July 14, 185 1, (she and Jesse were twins), and 
now (1903) living in Philadelphia. [She married Dec. 31,-1872, Aaron 
H. Harley, proprietor of the Farmers' Hotel, 1802 Ridge avenue, Phila- 
delphia, who was born Oct. 30, 1849, at Fairview, Montgomery county, 
Pa., the son of Matthias J. Harley. The following six children of Mary 
Gable and Aaron H. Harley, are all living in 1903: (1), Mary Agnes 
Harley, born April 20. 1877, who married, first, Wm. Gotwals, by whom 
she had a son, William Edward Gotwalts, living in 1903, and married, 
second, Harvey Houck, her present husband,, by whom she has a son, 
Aaron Harley Houck; (2), Sarah Lavinia Harley, born March 15. 1880; 



(3), Caroline Gable Harley, born June 21, 1883; (4), Elsie Irene Harley, 
born Jan. 10, 1886; (5), Matthias Johnson Harley, born Dec. 17, 1890; 
and (6), Marguerite Edith Harley, born July 24, 1894.] 

7. Emma Louisa Gable, born April 30, 1853, and died Dec. 15, 1881, 
never having married. 

8. Rosa Gable, born Dec. 19, 1854, and now living (1903) in Nor- 
ristown, Pa. [She married, Nov- 9, 1878, Hiram Pierce Beerer, born at 
Jeffersonville, Montgomery county, Pa., the son of Joseph Beerer and 
Elizabeth Kline. Rosa Gable and Hiram Pierce Beerer have had the 
following two children: (1), Walter Gable Beerer, born Sept. 11, 1879, 
and died Sept. 9, 1880; and (2), Joseph Gable Beerer, born Feb. 17, 1884, 
and living in 1903.] 

9. Elizabeth Gable, born Oct. 18, 1856, and died June 23, 1857. 

10. Allen Nelson Gable, born April 5, 1858, and died June 29, i860. 

11. Percival Kemmerer Gable, born Feb. 27, i860, and now (1903) 
living in Norristown, proprietor of the Rambo House. 

12. Charles Gable, born May 18, 1863, and died Oct. 26, 1863. 
Transcribed from the Jesse Gable Bible Register, Sept. 4, 1903, with 

some facts added from the family records or personal knowledge of Mrs. 
Mary Gable Harley and Mrs. Rosa Gable Beerer. 

FRANK ALLABEN. 



*£ 


The Gahle Signatures 


*& 



The three signatures on the opposite page, (fac-similes of the origi- 
nals, obtained by a tracing upon tracing paper over carbon paper), are 
in the order of their positions on the page, the autographs, respectively, 
of Philip Gabel, ist, who came to America in August, 1739, of Philip 
Gabel, 2d born in America, in October, 1739, and of Philip Gabel, or 
Gable, 3d, born in 1768, the grandson of the first Philip and son of the 
second. 

This autograph of the first Philip, the only one known to exist, ap- 
pears on the second page of the Treasurer's book of the Old Goshenhop- 
pen Lutheran Congregation, begun in 1771, among several autographs of 
signers who thus attested their approval of accounts closed up on May 
27, 1773. The second signature, "Philip Gabel, Jun.", appears in the same 
list; and as the 3d Philip was not born until 1768, we know that the two 
signatures of 1773 are those of the ist and 2d Philips. That of the 2d 
Philip appears repeatedly on subsequent pages of the book, and later 
on the signature of the 3d Philip Gable appears frequently. The copy 
opposite is signed to an account dated June 3, 1809, his father, the 2d 
Philip, having died January 18, 1808. 

The two last signatures, Jesse Gabel and P. K. Gable, are those of 
father and son, the former the great-grandson and the latter the great - 
great-grandson of the original Philip Gabel. 

FRANK ALLABEN. 



NOTE. — The signatures of the ist and 2d Philip Gabel give the Ger- 
man spelling of the family name, '"Gabel," while the 3d Philip gives the 
English phonetic equivalent. "Gable." The 2d Philip wrote his name 
both ways. In the old German records of Alt Goschenhoppen Kirche, 
his autograph everywhere appears in German, but in his old Ledger 
(Ledger "M,") now in the possession of his great-grandson. Mr. Per- 



cival K. Gable, he kept all his accounts in most beautiful English, trans- 
lating all the German surnames into their phonetic equivalent in English. 
His own family name here appears always as "Gable." A careful study 
of this Ledger, and comparison of it with his autograph in German, 
leaves no doubt that the Ledger was the work of his own pen, and that 
he had the intelligence to perfect himself in English penmanship rather 
than in German, and so attain to the commanding position he enjoyed 
in the community as an intermediary between the German settlers and 
the English of Colonial Pennsylvania. 

The memorandum on the inside front cover of the Ledger, under 
date, April 6, 1762, is in German script, and in the same hand as the 
German autograph of the 2d Philip Gabel, while the name above this 
memorandum, "Martin Spring Bucker," is in the elegant English script, 
which appears throughout the Ledger. In the same German hand is also 
the line on the inside back cover, dated March 12, 1761, and cancelled by 
numerous pen-strokes through it. Again, throughout the Ledger, the 
itemized accounts, under the boldly and beautifully written surnames, 
are in much smaller script than the latter, and though in neat English, 
this, here and there (and very frequently), tends to revert to so close a 
kinship with the German autograph as to leave no doubt as to the author- 
ship. 

The proficiency of the English language and penmanship exhibited 
by Philip Gabel, 2d, as revealed to us in this book, need occasion no sur- 
prise. The first Philip Gabel was a man of intelligence and command- 
ing position, as is evidenced by the fact that he was one of four chosen 
to represent his church congregation in an important connection in 1744, 
only five years after he had reached America. Though his son, Philip, 
2d, was born in the, then, wilderness of Upper Salford Township, there 
was no difficulty in giving him the excellent education he evidently en- 
joyed. He was probably tutored by some of the early pastors of the Old 
Goshenhoppen Church, some of whom were finely educated and proficient 
in Latin and Hebrew (and probably Greek), as well as in English and 
German, as the Old Goshenhoppen Church records, kept by them, de- 
monstrate. 

Moreover, fine penmanship appears to have been an accomplishment 
of the Gabel family, in every generation, as a consultation of the records 
left by them discloses. 



»• X5 + 




T 



f^za^-P* < y,.% 




Z^& 





A further proof that the Ledger is in the hand of the second Philip 
Gabel is found in entries which would be unnatural, in their use of the 
personal pronoun; if by a book-keeper or any hand save that of the propri- 
etor of the business. The following credits are a few samples: "By soling 
a pair of shoes for my man," opposite p. 37; "Settled Wth Mich: Cressler 
Ball: due me," opp. p. 41; "By a bond signd: to me due on Elias Snider 
for £12; but allowd it to me for £11," opp. p. 51; Ballance due me," opp. 
p. 68; "By tobacco Bot: for me," opp. p. 166; "By eve my mades accot.", 
opp. p. 194, By a jacoat made for my wife," opp. p. 228; "By 1 pair 
shoes for me, 95; By 1 pair D's for my child, 35," opp. p. 136. etc. The 
last item was no doubt for shoes for his infant son, Philip Gable, 3d, 
born in 1768. Its date is Oct. 2d, 1769. This Ledger has been handed 
down in the Gable family to its present owner. 



*0 -23 



d* • 





,-i> . 









.A Q^ 





4; *U* »/JP 



5.V ^C 











^ " <* .. ♦*• °"° ^ 














,•) 







\v 



^/ .*»\ %^ .♦ Jfe'-- V,#* .-I*Sf^ ^.^ 



^v 



/2 , ^r\ 



w 

v^ 







t:~^ ,o* 







*°-v -. 






V 







***** 




4 O 



'S <?'i&k o » <^ j ^S /.-^.\ 




•^ 



o V 



s^V 



0" 



IV 




4* 



o V 







0° + * 







4 <r V 



















CT 











o x 





'oV 







> O 

^ A^ *^ 








D0BBS BROS. 

LI8RAKY BINDINO 



; , 78^; .o^ 








4 ^ 







